With just one year to go before it pulls the plug on Windows XP, Microsoft is giving users of the popular but aging operating system an incentive to upgrade: an upgrade discount.

In a promotional website, Microsoft said it is ending support for XP by April 8, 2014 – meaning XP users by then will no longer get security updates.

“Without critical Windows XP security updates, your PC may become vulnerable to harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software which can steal or damage your business data and information. Anti-virus software will also not be able to fully protect you once Windows XP itself is unsupported,” it said.

Also, it said many software and hardware vendors will no longer support their products running on Windows XP since they cannot get Windows XP and Office 2003 updates.

A team of Japanese engineering students has invented a ‘fulfillment coat’ that may be perfect for those lonely souls in search of girlfriends — like, for example, Japanese engineering students.

The girlfriend coat is called the “Riajyuu Coat,” which comes from the slang term meaning “someone who is pleased with their life outside the Internet.”

The device looks like a normal coat except for its neon-colored belt, which users fasten around the waist. A machine then winds the belt to simulate the feeling of being hugged from behind. As you feel the squeeze, the headphone that comes with the coat whispers pre-recorded words such as “I am sorry, were you waiting?” and “ Watch your back!” into your ears.

“The concept of this device is everyone can get the feeling [of] having a girlfriend,” hardware engineer Hikaru Sugiura said.

Looking to add this device to your personal wardrobe? Don’t hold your breath. For now, it’s unclear whether the coat is a serious product or joke among friends, although the YouTube video’s lighthearted tone suggests the latter.

TOKYO – Japanese convenience store operator FamilyMart Co. said Friday it will open its first Philippine store in Metro Manila on Sunday.

The store in Makati City, the country’s financial district, is located in the Glorietta shopping mall and contains 26 seats where customers can eat.

FamilyMart plans to increase the number of stores in the Southeast Asian country with growth potential to 30 by the end of this year.

Last November, FamilyMart and trading house Itochu Corp. established a joint venture in the Philippines with property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), through SIAL DVS Retailers Inc., to start the convenience store operation in the country.

FDA warns of health risks due to likelihood of nicotine and other toxic chemicals. E-cigs face limits or bans in some states.

Electronic cigarettes sound fantastic. Rather than fill your lungs with tar, they deliver a vapour of nicotine to satisfy your craving, without the nasty side effects. They are popularly perceived as the safe alternative to cigarettes, a harmless way to get a nicotine hit. No wonder 700,000 people were using e-cigarettes in the UK last year, with that figure set to rise to over a million by the end of 2013.

Doctors are desperate to drive down the £5bn a year that smoking-related illness costs the NHS. Anything that could help smokers quit would be welcomed. But e-cigarettes aren’t a medicine. There’s a reason you buy them from a newsagent rather than get them on prescription. E-cigarettes may look legitimate, but they haven’t been through the same stringent safety checks as medicated nicotine replacement therapies.

The Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (PHAP) yesterday urged the public to take precautions against heat stroke as most parts of the country continue to sizzle.

PHAP president Rustico Jimenez said there has been an increase in heat stroke cases since last month.

“Before summer, you would usually see one case of heat stroke in a hospital per month. But starting last month, five to 10 patients have been coming for consultation,” he said. “Most of the patients, however, were allowed to go home after being rehydrated.”

The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control (CDC) defines heat stroke as the “most serious heat-related illness” and can cause death or permanent disability.

“It occurs when the body becomes unable to control its temperature. The body’s temperature rises rapidly, the sweating mechanism fails, and the body is unable to cool down. Body temperature may rise to 106ºF or higher within 10 to 15 minutes,” according to the CDC website.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Tuesday expressed fear that her bone marrow condition will lead to leukemia, a report on GMA News TV’s “Balita Pilipinas” said.

“Because of my bone marrow condition, apparently no one knows how to treat it, it will probably retrogress into leukemia. That’s why I have no strength,” the feisty lawmaker told reporters in an interview.

Santiago, who was guest speaker at the graduation ceremonies of Our Lady of Fatima University at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), explained that her bone marrow is not producing enough red blood cells, resulting in her being anemic.

Santiago also said she intends to leave politics soon and will instead consider being a judge at the International Criminal Court.

“I will no longer seek re-election,” she said. “I will think about whether I want to go and work as judge of the International Criminal Court.”

The country’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is tightening some requirements for work passes, imposing higher levies on companies hiring foreign workers and lowering the maximum ratio of foreigners allowed in certain sectors.

“It’s very difficult now. There are many companies who want to hire Filipinos but the problem is (getting) the work passes (for them),” the Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Minda Calaguian-Cruz told Rappler in Filipino in an interview Wednesday, April 3.

“It’s not focused on the Filipinos. It’s foreign talents as a whole and we’re just one part of that,” she added.

Liz Peruda, a customer service representative with Apple, said she is grateful her work pass application was approved. Her husband wasn’t as lucky. After his application was denied multiple times, he had to return to the Philippines to look for work.

“We’re just really taking advantage of whatever time we have here in Singapore,” said Peruda.

“For Filipinos, even if we hold a good job, even if we hold a high-ranking job, even us, we’re scared. When it’s time to renew our passes… we’ll have that 10% chance that it might not get approved,” she said.

What will change?

In a release from the MOM, the Singaporean government is introducing the following changes, to limit the inflow of foreign workers:

By July 2013, the minimum qualifying salary for the S Pass, a work pass for mid-skilled foreigners, will be raised from SGD $2,000 to $2,200

By July 1, 2015, Employers will have to begin paying a higher monthly levy for S Pass Holders, with the following average increases:

S Pass (all sectors) – $90 per S Pass holder

Manufacturing – $50 per Work Permit holder

Services – $90 per Work Permit holder

Construction- $160 per Work Permit holder

The Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC), the maximum permitted ratio of foreign workers to the total workforce of a company, will be lowered as follows:

Services sector DRC – limited to 40% from 45% by July 1, 2013

S Pass sub-DRC for Services – decreased to 15% from 20% by July 1, 2013

Restrictions on the renewal of applications will also become more severe.

The government has become more strict about employment requirements for foreigners in recent years. It also tightened up on the number of permanent residence (PR) visas it gives out. Government record shows that from a high of 79,000 PRs in 2008, the government now grants about 30,000 each year.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way.” – Les Brown